Orson Welles

(1915-85) a US actor who also wrote, directed and produced films and plays. He became famous in 1938 when his radio production of H G Wells'sThe War of the Worlds frightened many people who thought it was describing a real attack by Martians. Welles's most famous film was his first, Citizen Kane (1941). Others included Jane Eyre (1944), The Lady from Shanghai (1948) with his wife Rita Hayworth, The Third Man, Othello (1952) and Touch of Evil (1958).